Automatic cycle-inflater



No. 62I,326. Patented Mar. 2|, |899. M. D. COMPTON.

AUTOMATIC CYCLE INFLTER.

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IINTTED STATES PATENT muon.

MELVIN D. COMPTON, OE NEWARK, NEIV JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC CYCLE-INFLATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 621,326, dated March21, 1899.

Application filed April 25,1898.

T0 cir/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, MELvIN D. COMPTON, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Newark, county of Essex, State of NewJersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in AutomaticCycle-Inflaters, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention has general reference to a coin-operated fluid-vendingapparatus.

The special object of the invention is to provide an'apparatus wherebybicycle-riders may inflate their pneumatic tires without delay. For thepurposes of this case, therefore, I have designated my new invention asan automatic cycle-inflater.

This invention contemplates particularly the provision of means wherebycompressed air may be stored and kept on tap subject to draft inpredetermined limited volume bythe introduction of a suitable coin ortoken, so that bicycle-riders may have their pneumatic tiresautomatically and quickly inflated Without the labor of operating anair-pump or the inconvenience of waiting for another'to do so.

The invention consists, essentially, in the combination of a tank orreservoir having an inlet and discharge,a regulating and reducing valvewhereby a lower pressure than that in the tank may be discharged to thetire, a valve for opening and closing the dischargepassage, a motor foroperating the valve, and a coin-operated lever for throwing the motorinto and out of active operation.

The invention also consists in certain other combinations and details ofconstruction hereinafter fully described, and set forth in claimsappended hereto. y

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation showing my improved apparatus,the same being connected with the nipple of abicycletire, as in theprocess of inflating a tire. Fig. 2 is an elevation showing theprincipal part of the operating mechanism inclosed within a casing, thedoor of the casing being open. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the coin slotor conduit. Fig. 4 is a detail section on the line 44 of Fig. 1, showingmy method of locking the cash-boxor coin-receptacle. Fig. 5 is avertical section through the reducing-valve.

1 is a strong tank or receptacle provided with handles 2 2 forconvenience in moving the same from place to place. The discharge- `ingcoin-operated arm 13.

Serial No. 678,768. (No model.)

passage is provided with a cock 3, outside or beyond which is arranged apressure-regulating and pressure-reducing valve 4 of any approvedcharacter or construction, such that it Will automatically regulate anddischarge compressed air at a lower predetermined pressure than thatwithin the tank. In advance of or beyond the pressure -regulator andWithin the casing I arrange a discharge-valve 5, and leading from the'valve out through the casing is a discharge-tube 6, that part outsidethe casing being flexible and provided with a mouthpiece 7, adapted tocoperate with the nipple on the bicycle-tire. The discharge-valve 5 maybe of any suitable character. I have found that a conical valve which isadapted to be operated in one direction by a crank or eccentric on adriven shaft and by the pressure of the air within in the otherdirection answers my purpose. l

8 represents a motor, which may be of any suitable character,operated byweight,spring, or other power. The motor is provided with or carries arotary shaft 9, upon which are mounted a cam 10 and an eccentric orcrank 11. The function of the crank is to open or depress the valve andpermit the escape of air through the'tube 6. Pivoted on the outside ofthe frame of the motor 8 is a fork or triangular-shaped rocking arm 12,and above the extremity of this rocker-arm is a vibrat- Thiscoin-operated arm is provided with a weight or counterbalance 14,adapted to tumble to opposite sides of a vertical plane, and with a pinor stop 15 for engaging an arm of a fly or governor 16 to stop themotor.

17 is a coin-slot leading through the side of the casing for themechanism and dischargingthrough a diaphragm 18 into a coin-receptacle19. The coin-operated lever 13 extends athwart or through the coin-slot17, and when a penny is inserted in the slot its weight tilts the leveruntil it reaches the nose or angle of the rocking arm 12, where it issustained, while the motor-shaft 9 moves through more than half arevolution, when the rocking arm 12 permits the lever 13 to fall anddeliver the coin through the chute into the cash-box, the lever 13 beingmaintained in its depressed position by reason of the weight 14. As theshaft continues its revolution ICO the cam carries the rocker-arm backapproximately into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, and therocker-arm throws the lever 13 into its substantially horizontalposition, where it is held by means of its weight 14', in which positionthe stud or projection 15 engages the wing of the y or governor 16 andarrests the motor. The upward movement of the coin-operated arm 13 isarrested by coming in contact with a stop 20. For the purpose ofproviding for slight lost motion between the crank or eccentric 11 andthe valve-stem I have interposed between the parts of the valve-stem astiff spring 21. Connected with the tank or reservoir is a pressuregage22 to indicate the pressure within the tank.

In the use of my machine I contemplate placing the same with suitablecare-takers, and as compensation for such care it is proposed to allowsuch persons a given per cent. of the receipts or deposits in thecash-box. To facilitate the carrying out of this plan and to make thearrangement entirely open and fair, I provide the cash-box with a doublelock and place a key of one of the locks in the hands of the care-takerand the other in the hands of-the agent for the machine, so

` that it will require the presence of two persons in order to open thecash-box, when an agreed division of the contents can be made. In orderto carry out my purpose, I provide the door of the cash-box with a hasp23, and in the range of this hasp in the door is a keyhole 24, leadingto a lock for the door. Af-

herein the double-locking mechanism described, the same being reservedfor a separate application.

It is important to keep the coin-operated lever or trip out of rangewith the fiy or the means of stopping the motor for a period long enoughto discharge a volume of air sufficient to fill the tire. This isaccomplished by the novel arrangement of lever with relation to thecoin-slot, the rocker-arm with relation to the lever, and the cam 10with relation to the rocker-arm. Under this arrangement the leverremains depressed the period or time in which a complete revolution ofthe shaft 9 is made.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In a Huid-vending apparatus having a motor for opening and closingthe valve, the combination with such motor, of a coin-operated lever totrip the motor into and out of active operation, a rocker-arm, and a camconnected with the motor for throwing the lever back to normal positionto stop the motor, substantially as described.

2. In a huid-vending apparatus having a motor for operating thedischarge-valve, the combination with said motor, of a coin-operatedlever having a weight adapted to swing on opposite sides of the verticalplane, a rocker al'm for controlling the movement ot said lever, andmeans for operating the rocker-arm, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname, in presence of two witnesses, this 22d day of April, 1898.

MELVIN D. COMPTON.

Vitnesses:

C. II. POWELL, HENRY .I. MCCORMICK.

